Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns the management of financial transactions made by debtors with creditors via bank accounts of the latter. More precisely, the invention concerns methods and devices for instructing annex operations linked to the execution of main operations, for example management of donations further to payments by bank cards, carried out using devices connected by a communication network.
Description of the Related Art
Whereas conventionally donations were made autonomously, for example by sending a check or a transfer to a general interest entity or by providing change to a representative of an association, there are now applications implemented by computer (that is to say, in practice, on computers, personal digital assistants, smartphones or the like).
An essential feature of the computer-implemented mechanisms for collecting donations concerns the quality of the interfaces enabling donations to be made so that a user is not inclined to dismiss a donation offer due to complexity, excessive time, uncertainty as to the amount, beneficiary or the reliability of the procedure, etc.
While these mechanisms generally follow simple monetary rules by providing, for example, to round a sum to pay for a purchase to the integer above or to pay a predetermined sum for each purchase, the implementation is generally complex for meeting the needs of simplicity of the user and of security concerning the transactions. Furthermore, there is a high demand for traceability of the donations, in particular for tax purposes.
FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates an environment in which a mechanism for collecting donations can be implemented enabling a client to make a micro-donation at the time of a purchase, for example a donation of the difference between the price to pay and that price rounded to the integer above.
As illustrated, the environment 100 enables a client 105 having a payment card to make purchases from a merchant having a computer infrastructure 110. In addition to this infrastructure, the environment 100 here comprises a computer system 115 linked to a bank of the merchant, a computer system (not shown) linked to a bank of the client and a computer system 120 linked to a bank of an organization 125 of NGO type (NGO standing for Non-Governmental Organization).
The computer infrastructure 110 of the merchant here comprises, in particular, a computerized accounting system 130, a cash register software application 135 associated with a cash register operated by a checkout operator and a payment terminal 140. The computerized accounting system 130 and the cash register software application 135 are connected to each other by a communication network, for example a network of Ethernet type using IP protocol (IP standing for Internet Protocol).
The computer systems linked to the banks are connected together and to the computerized accounting system 130 as well as to the payment terminal 140 by a communication network of Internet type, the exchanges of data being made secure, for example by encryption.
The donation collection mechanism is generally for the most part implemented in the computerized accounting system 130 of the merchant as well as in its cash register software application.
When a client proceeds to checkout to make the payment for his purchasers (step {circle around (1)}), for an amount denoted M, the checkout operator asks him whether he wishes to make a donation for an amount denoted D (step {circle around (2)}). If the client declines, the payment procedure continues in a conventional manner (not shown).
By contrast, if the client agrees to make a donation (step {circle around (3)}), the checkout operator presses a specific button to calculate a donation value based on the rounding to the integer above of the amount of the purchasers, scans a specific barcode to obtain a similar result or inputs the amount of the donation using the cash register software application (step {circle around (3)}′). This input is typically carried out by adding a particular reference to the list of the references for the products purchased by the client, this particular reference designating a donation and enabling, the case arising, the manual input of an amount by the checkout operator.
It may be noted that several particular references may each be used to designate an organization to which the donation must be made. The donation is thus integrated in the sales receipt of which the indicated total amount, denoted T, comprises the amount of the real purchases (M) and the donation amount (D). In other words, T=M+D.
In a following step (step {circle around (4)}), the total amount (T) indicated on the sales receipt, the amount of the real purchases (M) and the amount of the donation (D) are sent by the cash register software application 135 to the computerized accounting system 130 of the merchant.
If the payment for the purchases is made by bank card (and not in cash or by check), the cash register software application automatically sends the amount to pay (T) to the payment terminal 140. Alternatively, that amount is manually input by the checkout operator on the payment terminal 140. If it is authorized, the client validates the payment using his secret code
The computer system of the merchant's bank telecollects the merchant's takings, typically periodically, and through bank intermediation presents the amount of the payments (T=M or T=M+D depending on whether the client has made a donation or not) to credit an account of the merchant with a corresponding amount (step {circle around (5)}).
In parallel, the merchant's computerized accounting system 130 updates account journals in which appear the amounts of the real purchases (M) and the amounts of the donations (D), typically by beneficiary organization. The separate management of the amounts of the real purchases (M) and of the amounts of the donations (D) is necessary for accounting reasons (linked for example to VAT, standing for Value Added Tax) and tax reasons (in particular for calculating the turnover within which the amount of the donations must not be included).
The account journal for the donations is in particular used by the merchant to periodically transfer, for example every month, the total amount of the donations received on behalf of one or more organizations. Such payments are typically made by order of the merchant to his bank, the latter carrying out the transaction order (steps {circle around (6)} and {circle around (6)}′). The organization or organizations then have available the donations paid to carry out their missions (step {circle around (7)}).
It is observed here that implementation of the collection mechanisms for donations or micro-donations such as the one described with reference to FIG. 1 require substantial modifications to the devices used.
Thus, in particular, it is necessary to modify the cash register software application and/or to add a software application cooperating therewith, to enable the input of at least one particular reference designating a donation and enabling the calculation of an associated amount or the manual input of an associated amount, in order for a particular article, not subject to VAT, to be added to a sales receipt.
It is also necessary to modify the computerized accounting system of the merchant to enable separate management of the real purchase amounts and of the donation amounts, to enable the processing of references of products assimilated with donations and not subject to VAT (these amounts must not be included in the calculation of the turnover), to manage different account journals and to credit external accounts (accounts associated with organizations of NGO type) as well as to calculate the exact amount of the turnover.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the implementation of these donation collection mechanisms requires involvement of the checkout staff in relation to the clients. Thus, for example, the checkout operators must “petition” clients to make a donation then, where appropriate, handle the initiation of the donation management process. This excess work is generally considered to be unpleasant by checkout operators who feel they are begging for donations. Furthermore, this method may have an unpleasant psychological influence and be considered as intrusive by the client who feels trapped in that a refusal may be ill considered by a checkout operator or a client situated nearby when the question is asked.
Thus, the constraints imposed by these donation collection mechanisms have considerable consequences.
Furthermore, there is a risk of substantially slowing down the checkout due to the complexity of the procedure.
Lastly, the modifications to be made to the cash register software application in the merchant's computerized accounting system are very costly (typically of the order of several million euros in the case of a retail chain operating nationwide). It is observed here that it is very difficult to export the modifications from one merchant to another, thereby involving repetition of the modification operations and therefore of the related costs.
Lastly, the transfer and the management of the funds are the merchant's responsibility, without real verifications being possible. The traceability of the donations is therefore not ensured, leading to problems such as tax exemption problems.